


we begin again

by MidnightRaven



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Mentions of War, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Phoenixes, Pre-Relationship, Reincarnation, Reunions, Temporary Character Death, sorta first meetings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-13
Updated: 2017-05-13
Packaged: 2018-10-28 01:43:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10821114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidnightRaven/pseuds/MidnightRaven
Summary: Several decades ago, Captain Izumi Daichi and his squad perished in an unexpected fire. The Captain’s bird never returned to the roost and nothing remained of the battleground.Their beginning didn’t start until several decades later.





	we begin again

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Kurodai Week, Day 8: Mythological Creatures/ ~~Super Powers~~
> 
> I think this has been the most active I've been with my writing, this fanweek was amazing.

Daichi grinned, offering his arm to the red hawk-like bird in front of him.

“Good job, Red.”

Red crooned, stepping off the fence and onto his arm. The bird bobbed his head and his tail fanned out in his cheer. Daichi chuckled and, not for the first time, admired the bird that had, for some reason, chosen to stick with him.

Red was large, the size of an eagle if he had to guess, and a vibrant red. His wingspan was huge and his red feathers shone brilliantly under the sun. He and his friends hadn’t been able to pin down a breed for Red, only that he merely looked like a larger species of their common hawks with an unusual colour.

Red warbled, tilting his head rather questioningly at him. Daichi smiled softly at him, reassuring.

“It’s nothing, Red.”

Sometimes, he felt like Red knew what he was saying and understood him.

* * *

One of the worst situations Daichi has ever been in was the time he had been stuck in enemy territory with only his partner; they had to survive thick woods and freezing nights all while trying to get home.

 _Today_ , he thinks, _is going to be worse than that_.

The battlefield is a chaotic mess and he could barely keep up. It was loud. There were movements everywhere. Daichi’s mind kept jumping from one thing to another; the enemy in front of him, the sounds of cannons being fired, his partner dying at his feet, the empty woods that suddenly weren’t so empty anymore and the pained cry he only discovered came from himself when he was facedown on the trampled ground and bleeding out.

The battle continued. Daichi could hear swords clashing in the distance and felt the vibrations of feet heavy on the ground.

 _This is it_ , he thought, _this is it_.

There was a stinging numbness in his chest and it became hard to breathe. By now, he could only hear a high pitched ringing and, even half dead and very much out of it, he realized, it wasn’t him- it was the air. It had become stifling hot- hot enough to make breathing difficult.

As if the world had frozen, as if time had stopped, Red hopped into his sight, a distressed warble making it’s way into his ears.

“ _Red_ ,” Daichi tried to say, but from the loud distressed chirp Red made, it probably hadn’t made it out of his mouth. His throat stung.

And, mind suddenly sharp, right before his eyes Red burned up. A fire engulfed the bird and it grew and kept growing and growing, until Daichi could see a scarless hand reach towards him. The fire softly died down, blowing away in a non existent wind, revealing a rather young looking man.

“ _Daichi_ ,” the man breathed, patting uselessly at his injury and desperately searching his eyes. “No, no, you can’t die.”

And as his vision faded and unable to hear his own sounds through the ringing in his head, Daichi attempted a smile, eyes closing as he choked on a laugh and forced out his last words.

And everything **_burned_.**

_“Hah...I always thought you were too pretty and smart to be a normal bird.”_

* * *

Several decades later, Daichi is reborn with memories of smoke and fire; of stifling heat and an unforgettable burn seared in his mind.

At the age of nineteen- way younger than what he really felt at times- Daichi walked down the path he had always had for the past few months. Cars drove by and he still couldn’t help watching him, their sheer novelty hasn't worn off, they seemed so _unnatural_. They never had cars before.

It was on this normal day, on his way to college, when the normalcy he had painstakingly created for himself shattered.

“ _Daichi_.”

The whisper drifted past him and he stopped. Time froze and he couldn’t breathe. Several decades ago, and only in his memories and supposed past life, was his name ever spoken like that.

Desperate, disbelieving and resonating with a tone he had always associated with that one bird.

A Phoenix, he had later assumed, after many late nights of reflecting and research; of turning over the memories of a life that wasn’t his- _yet it was his_. He remembered the days where he laughed and cried with his friends- with _comrades_. The grueling training he had been put through and the countless bruises and cuts he gained- some days, the injures haunted him like a ghost.

He remembered the day he had died, his partner- name regretfully forgotten- dying at his feet and himself falling soon after. He remembered his last moments- warm, solely because of the fire that had burned in the wake of his hawk. From the Phoenix.

No, not a Phoenix- _a man_. A man with charcoal hair and blazing amber eyes.

And as he turned, heart high in his throat and near choking- _because those were memories weren’t they, not just his imagination, had they actually been real_ \- he laid eyes on the very same man standing a metre away. He had not aged at all- skin as flawless as before, hair black and eyes still burning (it was a mere simmer compared to the furious blaze decades ago, he noted).

“....Red?” Daichi breathed out, desperately looking for something in the stranger’s- _not really a stranger_ \- eyes. The man hiccuped at the name, a hand raising to cover his mouth.

“Kuroo, my name’s Kuroo Tetsurou.” Kuroo sniffled. “Daichi. I..I don’t- you _remember_?”

“I...I remember the war and fire; I remember when my name was Izumi Daichi instead of Sawamura Daichi. And I remember Red.” Daichi answered softly. “Red was my hessenger bird and companion. Red was a _bird_. But-” He stared Kuroo straight in the eye. “You turned human.”

Kuroo laughed breathlessly, the sound light and overjoyed. “You- You’re smart, Daichi. I think you already know.”

Daichi watched as tears beaded in Kuroo’s eyes before those eyes darted to the textbook he was holding. _Fantastic and Mythological Creatures_ was written across it in gold.

“You’re a Phoenix.”

“Yes,” Kuroo confirmed, blinking the tears away and stepping closer. The air surrounding them was warm, protecting them from the biting wind around them, and Daichi was unsure if it was merely his imagination or if Kuroo actually gave off that much heat.

“They don’t exist.”

“Reincarnation isn’t supposed to happen either.”

* * *

Several years ago, he had thought he had imagined an entire life in another world.

Several months ago, he had sought out mythology classes because that one single moment was burned into his head.

Several days ago, he had lived a normal life, had settled into this vaguely strange, modern version of what his other life had been.

Several minutes ago, a Phoenix- _an actual Phoenix_ \- confirmed that he had lived before, that he hadn’t been imagining anything and had been born once again.

And now, as Daichi sat across from Kuroo in a little cafe, he marveled at how much his world had suddenly changed. Kuroo fiddled with his steaming cup of coffee, rambling about everything that had changed and Daichi hid a smile.

Everything felt like it was real. That hadn’t been something he had felt ever since he had realized that having memories of another life made him _different_.

“ _Let’s start again, okay? No dying this time, Daichi. My name’s Kuroo Tetsurou and I was your bird centuries ago_.”

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [Tumblr (cawnvictofmurder)](http://cawnvictofmurder.tumblr.com/)  
> Let me know if you liked it and thank you for reading!


End file.
